The 40-year-old was knocked off his BMW motorbike when it was struck by a car.
His motorbike hit the vehicle’s bonnet and slammed into a road sign on the A352
near Wareham, Dorset, nine years ago.

He suffered injuries to his neck, back and left thigh, he suffered a disabling fracture to his right leg,
causing extensive damage to his knee, the court heard yesterday. The accident was also said to have
left him with depression.

Mr Clews was told in 2003 that he could no longer work for the RAF services, Mr Clews conceded
he was unable to climb ladders in his latter days in the Navy, which meant he was unfit for sea duties.
The physical injuries have now left him unable to stand for long periods of time and his barrister, Mark Maitland-Jones,
comments that he is only able to do “semi-sedentary work” now.

Mr Clews said at one point last year, his depression had “wiped him out”, and that it was a “bad way” to start his 40s.
He successfully claimed damages from the driver of the car that struck him, Alan Rodgers, of Weymouth, whose insurers
did not contest liability. Mr Clews now works at Cosford’s RAF Museum.